


Times are changing

by the_milky_way



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Away Games, Awesome Teammates, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Goalies, M/M, National Hockey League, Self-Reflection, hurt!Ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 04:05:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13605156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_milky_way/pseuds/the_milky_way
Summary: Just a little look into Kari's feelings after Ben gets hit by a puck during the Arizona game.They are friends. Have been for ages. They could be more now.





	Times are changing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elenajames](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenajames/gifts).



> Hey there,
> 
> I had fun writing it, because I love my goalies.  
> I really hope that this little story has some of the elements you wanted to see. I took one of your goalie-prompts and tried to make something out of it. It was sort of rebellious but I do hope that you'll like it anyway. :)
> 
> <3

Times are changing

It’s so dark outside that Kari can’t see the other end of the block despite the street lamps. Rain has been pattering against the glass for hours now. It’s that kind of evening where everyone stays in and waits out the storm.

A quick glance at the clock unceremoniously shoved on top of the gigantic TV set tells him it’s too late to call home, and then makes him wonder where he even is. He’s played tonight, got a good game in, but doesn’t even remember which team it was. It’s so far into the season that it doesn’t really matter.

_The puck’s going out of game. The puck, the bench, the puck..._

Movement in his peripheral vision makes him blink and stop counting the drops sliding down the glass. Seggy’s leaning against the doorframe as if he belongs there. But then Seggy always holds himself like that, no matter what.

“Go and check in on him. I know you want to.”

Kari doesn’t really know what to say to that. Because it’s true, and he doesn’t even know when this started. There is no point in time where suddenly he started caring for Ben Bishop. In a way, he sort of always did. They’ve been friends through mutual acquaintances for years now. Kari’s just never cared like this.

This is new. This started somewhere on the road when Ben threw Julius out of the room to sit and watch a movie with Kari. They didn’t talk, didn’t share feelings or anxieties. They just sat and were. Simple as that.

But nothing is simple about this. Not a single notion or feeling is anywhere near simple. They both know it, too.

“He’s waiting, you know?” Tyler says when Kari doesn’t answer or move to get up. Kari blinks, looks away from the rain again and nods. He’d imagined something like that. They’re on the road, it’s their time together, and it somehow became a fixture during the last few months. After a game Ben comes to him or Kari seeks him out.

_He hears the hit even though it’s not possible. He sees Ben’s head fly back. The puck’s springing, flying, being redirected… The puck that hit Ben._

“I’m not sure that this is a good idea,” Kari finally mumbles, not even certain what made him speak. He’s been caught in a repetitive bubble ever since Ben moved from the bench to head to the locker room. And Kari had been in the game, playing, winning, even. The game’s over but he hasn’t seen Ben yet. Medical protocol got in the way, and Kari was ferried off towards the hotel along with everyone else.

“Oh no, you don’t… Hey Big Finn, look at me,” Tyler demands. Kari looks up, finds Tyler right in front of him and has to smile a little. Big Finn, that’s who he is now. Big Ben and Big Finn, that’s them. Splitting games between them, getting along, making it work. It’s good. It’s better than it has been.

“It’ll be okay. I know it sucks seeing him getting hurt. It always does. But it’ll be okay… And hey, Abbe said so, too, didn’t she?” Tyler is one of the select few who know how Kari and Abbe work. Knows that she’s Kari’s best friend, the woman who gave him children, the love of his life – only, not in the way it really counts. Tyler also knows that Abbe was the one who told him to be happy, to let her know when it becomes more than just fun.

Kari thinks he’s missed the target by miles. It’s been more than just fun for months now. And he doesn’t know how to actually go about it. This is new. This is uncharted territory without any helpful maps around. He’s not okay with it; scared, even, but somehow not willing to walk away from it.

“Kari?”

“Yeah… yeah, I know.” What he really knows stays somewhere hidden in the mist that has settled outside. And isn’t it telling that he suddenly remembers they are in Arizona and that rain is sort of a rare occurrence around these parts?

_The puck slides down the divider between bench and audience. It plops down just behind where Ben sat. Kari only sees the empty space, the break where Ben had been. His stomach drops in a way he’s never felt before. This isn’t good. Not good at all._

This evening has been strange. Kari think it’ll only be stranger from now on. He moves then, gets up from the windowsill he’s been perched on for way too long and makes his way towards the door, Seggy on his heels.

“He’s been waiting, huh?”

“Oh man, yeah. He actually pouted, though. Should have seen him when you weren’t there when he got in,” Tyler says, more serious than Kari has seen him in a while. That kid grew up so much. It’s amazing to see the man there instead of the scared boy Seggy still was back when he joined them.

“Get me popcorn? I have to do something first.” Kari can’t pinpoint what decides it for him; he just knows he wants to see Ben now.

“Will do. Just wait in front of his room and I’ll be right back. And Kari? This is good. Don’t let anybody tell you different. And Abbe will still be there.” Tyler pats him on the shoulder, smiles like he knows he did a good thing and is about to turn around. Kari catches his arm.

“When did you get so wise, Seggs?” Kari just has to ask.

“Dealing with the enigma that is Jamie Benn made it necessary.”

Ouch, Kari thinks. He knows the history there, knows it’s true. Everything Tyler went through made him the man, the player he is right now. He’s earned the A on his chest, has fought for friendships along the way and has grown into a person Kari wouldn’t ever not consider one of his closest friends.

 

+++

He texts Abbe.

More for his own sake than anything else.

He texts her to let her know.

It makes it so much more real than anything he’s ever said and done before.

She answers him with a “go for it” than sends “have been talking about him often enough lately:2 and ends with “i love you. i am happy for you. be happy, too. will talk later.”

How he got so lucky in life is beyond him. He doesn’t deserve any of it, least of all her and their little family. They will always be his safe haven. No matter what.

+++

 

Ben’s door isn’t closed all the way. Kari can see the TV flickering in the otherwise dark room. He’s been waiting for Seggy to show up with the popcorn for more than ten minutes now and starts to get a little concerned.

The hand on his shoulder doesn’t make him jump, but it’s a close thing.

“Daddy? What?”

Jason Demers grins brightly at Kari, pulls him into a heartfelt hug and hands over a big sized tub of caramel popcorn. Kari only rises his eyebrow because asking straight out never works with Demers anyway.

“Seggy needs distraction. Radu, Klinger, Spezz and I decided to kidnap him for the night. Don’t worry. It’ll be my place and I’ll personally make sure that they catch the plane.”

If it were anybody else, Kari would be worried. But this is Daddy, and he has that nickname for a reason. He’s not sure if he should let them go like that, but Hitch hadn’t enforced a curfew this time around. So, he just nods, pulls Jason into another hug, thanks him for the delivery and lets him go, feeling lighter than he has in a while. Daddy has that effect.

“Go and get your man.” And with that Jason is gone as fast as he appeared.

When Kari turns towards the door, Ben’s there, leaning against the door jamb and watching Kari with amusement in his eyes… well, eye, as the other one is swollen shut.

“Jesus fuck,” is all Kari can blurt out. Mostly because he’s surprised as hell, but partly due to the way Ben looks.

“That bad?”

“Nope,” Kari lies, then holds up the popcorn and asks: “Movie?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” With that Ben turns and moves back into his room. All Kari can do is follow, feeling his heart beat in his throat and trying not to crush the popcorn against his chest too much. He feels like he’s fifteen again. Nervous and inexperienced, even though he’s far from both.

“How are you feeling?” is what he asks when he can’t stand the weird silence between them anymore. Ben’s busy searching for a movie they’d both want to see, and Kari doesn’t really know if it’s okay to just flop down onto the bed, even though this is how they’d normally do it.

Something is off. Something that shouldn’t even be worth a blip on Kari’s emotional radar. This is awkward in ways Kari never imagined, and it hurts somehow.

“Better,” Ben answers in a low voice, then turns around to stand right in front of Kari, watching him. “Weird.”

 _Yeah_ , Kari thinks. _Weird is how I’ve been feeling ever since that puck smashed into your face. How about that?_

“It didn’t smash. It just hit me… a little.”

Huh? So much for his brain-to-mouth filter. Kari’s never been one for saying everything that’s on his mind out loud, but being near Ben somehow makes it easier to slip and do so anyway.

“I’m okay, Kari. Really. Nothing’s broken. It’s just bruised, and it hurts a little. I’m fine. “

It’s like a weight pulled off his shoulders, everything made simple by hearing those words. Kari didn’t even think he needed them, but then, no one had told him directly that Ben was fine. No one said a damn word.

And then Ben is there, arms wrapped tightly around Kari, not letting go for long minutes. It’s what they need right now, both of them.

“Don’t scare me like that again. Please. My old heart won’t survive it,” Kari whispers against the soft skin of Ben’s neck, and smiles when the man in his arms shivers.

“Can’t promise that, Kari,” Ben says when he pulls back slightly to look straight into Kari’s eyes. That’s how they remain for a bit. Just standing there in the middle of a nondescript hotel room in Arizona, with the TV casting a bluish glow against the walls. Two grown men who have been moving towards something that’s not clearly defined yet but has the potential to be something really good.

When Kari moves, it’s not away but closer again. The kiss, when it comes, is expected but still so new that both of them savor it, make it slow and intimate.

 _It’ll be okay_ , Kari thinks and actually believes it. He guides Ben towards the bed and laughs when the other man actually looks disappointed at being set up for a movie and not something else. But this is not the right time for more. This is so new that things can still collapse on themselves. There needs to be words in the future, there needs to be boundaries as well. But for now, it’ll just be them, simple as that.

It’s how Hams finds them, curled up in the bed, popcorn tub between them and movie on, both of them fast asleep.

The end

**Author's Note:**

> This has been written for the 2018 round of Chocolate Box.
> 
> Thanks so much S. for the beta, the read-through and you review.
> 
> And again thanks to my friends for going with my weird love for goalies and encouraging me to go for it again.


End file.
